Unit on Community Helpers

Grades: Kindergarten to 2nd Grade
Summary: A great unit for younger students.

Lesson #1:
Objective for the student: The student will increase patterning skills and be able to identify the pattern in the big book used and the tools of various community helpers.

Concepts/skills to be developed: Listening, identification, patterning, community helpers and the tools they use.

Materials needed: "Old Macdonald Had A Community" big book, chart paper, markers

Preparation necessary: Cut chart paper and have all supplies ready..

Set/Introduction: We will begin the class by reading the familiar big book "Old Macdonald Had A Farm". Since our unit is about community helpers, I will share with the class our new big book, "Old Macdonald Had A Community". We will look at the book, predict about what it is about, and discuss any prior knowledge we may have before we read the book.

Body: After reading the big book, we will discuss the community helpers in the book and the tools they used. We will discuss other possible tools those community helpers could have used, and then we will discuss the tools of various other community helpers. Finally, we will discuss how patterning is used throughout the book and some phrases are repeated throughout. Students will then get into small groups and be given a large sheet of chart paper. Then, the students will add to the big book. They will write about other community helpers using the same patterning as "Old Macdonald Had A Community." Students will get in their groups and share their creations with the class.

Evaluation: Evaluation will be based on my observation as they work in groups. Evaluation can also be on their creations which will see that they understand the pattern and how to create new ideas from the old pattern. It will also be on their ability to match up community helpers with correct tools based on their drawings.

Conclusion/Closure: Today we talked about various community workers? Who can name a few? What are their tools? Who can tell us what a pattern is? What pattern did we identify today? Finally, after we discuss what we did during class, we will re-read "Old Macdonald Had A Community".

Lesson #2:
OBJECTIVE FOR THE STUDENT: The student will increase listening and storytelling skills and be able to retell the story "The Fire Station".

CONCEPTS/SKILLS TO BE DEVELOPED: Listening, Story retelling, and Cooperation

MATERIALS NEEDED: "The Fire Station" material, craft sticks, drawing paper, and chart paper

PREPARATION NECESSARY: Have materials ready.

SET/INTRODUCTION: The class will visit the fire station and tour it as our field trip. The class will listen to the fire fighters tell about what they do, and the class will look at all of the various fire fighter equipment. This will be the introduction to the lesson we will have that day when we return.

BODY: I will tell the story using the material. The students will have to listen carefully, so they can retell the story correctly. Then, the students will get into groups and retell the story on chart paper. The students will decide what parts of the story they feel are the most important, and they will illustrate them on the chart paper. From their illustrations, the groups will share their story retelling with the class. Students will then receive their drawing paper. They will draw the puppets that they wish to make, and then they will color them and attach them to the craft sticks. Finally, they will use these puppets to retell the story in correct order to a friend.

EVALUATION: Observation of how well the students are able to retell the story and the individual story puppets will be methods of evaluation.

CONCLUSION/CLOSURE: Students can share their puppets with the class. Students can ask questions if needed. We will review the order of the story by asking various questions such as the following: What did Michael and Sheila do first? Where did they go? What did they do/see there? How did they get home? What happened at home? How did the story end?

Lesson #3:
Objective for the student: The student will increase listening skills and be able to identify various community workers.

Concepts/skills to be developed: Listening, identification, and noting important details

Materials needed: Community workers game, community workers stick puppets, and chart paper

Preparation necessary: Cut chart paper, and arrange a school tour with the principal.

Set/Introduction: I will come into class dressed as a fire fighter. I will tell the boys and girls that today we are going to begin our unit on community workers. We will take a tour of the school, and we will identify as many community workers working in our school as we can. As we identify them, we will stop the workers and ask them questions about their jobs and the tools they use. We will listen to the workers speaking, and we will note the important details regarding each worker.

Body: After the tour, the students will get into groups. Each group will have a sheet of chart paper. The groups will list other community workers that they can think of that we did not encounter on our tour. I will them show each of my community worker puppets, and the students will identify the worker. I will see if any group has listed that community worker on their chart paper. They will have to listen carefully. Together, we will list any workers that that the students listed on their chart paper that have still not been mentioned in class. We will briefly discuss the job of each of the community worker. Then, we will play the community workers game. This game is to introduce the class to various community workers, and it is also meant to see what prior knowledge the students already have. The students will have to listen to a riddle and answer it. If the answer is correct, they will see if they have the picture of the correct worker on their card. They will then cover that picture with a game piece. After the entire card is filled, that student wins the game. After the lesson, the game will be placed in a center for students to play on their own time.

Evaluation: Evaluation will be based on how well the students answer the riddles. The students will be able to evaluate themselves in the center with this game, because it is a self-checking material. Evaluation can also be based on my observation as they work in groups.

Conclusion/Closure: Today we identified community workers. Who can name some that we identified? Ask various questions. Review. Tell the children that this is just the beginning of our unit, and we will study some of these workers more in depth over the next two weeks and become engaged in many activities. This game will also be used in the final lesson as an evaluation of the effectiveness of the unit. I will let the children know that this game will be located in the center for them to use.

Culminating Activity
Day 10 is my culminating activity day. There are several activities throughout the day that the entire unit has been building up to. The students will learn about various community helpers for two weeks, and at the end of that time, students will come dressed as their favorite community helper. This begins on the first day when students graph their choices. Students will again graph their choices on the last day, and the class will see if any changes have been made. Students will get up in front of the class, and show their community helper costumes. They will also tell the class at least two things that they learned about their community helper during the unit. Finally, the field trip is another culminating activity. The field trip was chosen to be at a place where many various types of community helpers can be found. Students will have a chance to see them at work, talk with them, and ask them questions. It will truly give the students the opportunity to have an insight into the world of community helpers. They will also see that there are various other community helpers other than the ones that we listed. Students will complete the unit with a LEA about the field trip.

Books to use for Unit
Baker/Chef
Arno, E. The Gingerbread Man - Barbour, Karen Little Nino's Pizzeria - Galdone, P. The Gingerbread Boy Greenberg, Melanie Hope My Father's Luncheonette - Hennessy, B. G. Jake Baked the Cake - Kazza, Keiko The Wolf's Chicken Stew - McGovern, A. Stone Soup - Poskanzer, Susan What It's Like to Be a Chef - Sendak, Maurice In the Night Kitchen - Speed, Toby Hattie Baked a Wedding Cake - Spohn, Kate Ruth's Bake Shop - Lord, John Vernon The Giant Jam Sandwich

Carpenter
Barton, Byron Building a House - Barton, Byron Machines at Work - Daniel, Kira Home Builder Florian, Douglas A Carpenter - Gibbons, G. How a House is Built - Jennings, Terry Cranes, Dump Trucks, Bulldozers, and Other Building Machines - Lillegard, Dee I Can Be a Carpenter - Morris, Ann Tools - Muntean, Michaela Wet Paint Pfanner, Louise Louise Builds a House - Pluckrose, Henry Build It! - Rey's, H. A. Curious George and the Dump Truck Robbins, K. Tools - Rockwell, Anne and Harlow The Toolbox - Roth, Susan L. and Phang, Ruth We Build a Climber Royston, Angela and Thompson, Graham Monster Building Machines - Shone, Venice Tools - Wood, Leslie My House

Dentist/Doctor
Bauer, Judith What It's Like to Be a Doctor - Berry, Joy W. Teach Me About the Dentist - Braithwaite, Althea Visiting the Dentist - Butler, Daphne First Look in the Hospital - Cooper, Elizabeth Rosie's Hospital Story - Davison, Martine Rita Goes to the Hospital - DeSantrs, Kenny A Dentist's Tools - DeSantrs, A Doctor's Tools - Drescher, Joan Your Doctor, My Doctor - Hankin, Rebecca I Can Be a Doctor - Hautzig, Deborah A Visit to the Sesame Street Hospital - Hogan, Paula Z. The Hospital Scares Me - Krementz, Jill Taryn Goes to the Dentist - Mayer, Mercer Just Going to the Dentist - Rockwell, A. and H. The Emergency Room - Rockwell, Harlow My Dentist - Scarry, Richard The Doctor Sommers, Tish Big Bird Goes to the Doctor - Steig, William Doctor DeSoto

Firefighter
Averill, Esther The Fire Cat - Barrett, Norman S. Picture World of Fire Engines - Bond, Felicia Poinsettia and the Firefighters - Brown, Margaret Wise The Little Fireman - Bundt, Nancy The Fire Station Book - Cameron, Elizabeth The Big Book of Real Fire Engines - Elliot, Dan A Visit to the Sesame Street Fire Station - Fowler, Richard Mr. Little's Noisy Fire Engine - Gergely, Tibor The Great Big Fire Engine Book - Hankin, Rebecca I Can Be a Firefighter - Hutchings, Amy and Richard Firehouse Dog - Marston, Hope Irvin To The Rescue - Munsch, Robert The Fire Station Rey, Margaret Curious George at the Fire Station - Rockwell, Anne Fire Engines - Scarry, Richard Smokey the Fireman Slater, Teddy The Big Book of Real Fire Trucks and Fire Fighting - Thompson, Amy The Doctor's Bag - Thompson, Amy Old Macdonald Had a Community

Librarian
Gibbons, Gail Check It Out! The Book About Libraries - Greene, Carol I Can Be a Librarian - Kimmel, Eric A. I Took My Frog to the Library - Mora, Pat Tomas and the Library Lady - Poulet, Virginia Blue Bug Goes to the Library Radlauer, Ruth Shaw Molly at the Library Miscellaneous Ashabranner, Brent People Who Make a Difference - Bauer, Judith What's It Like to be an Airplane Pilot Civardi, Anne Things People Do - Florian, Douglas People Working - Giff, Patricia Reilly Next Year I'll Be Special - Hazen, Barbara S. Mommy's Office - Imershein, Betsy Animal Doctor - Klein, Norma Girls Can Be Anything - Komaiko, Leah My Perfect Neighborhood - Lillegard, Dee and Stoker, Wayne I Can Be an Electrician - Lillegard, Dee and Stoker, Wayne I Can Be a Plumber - Merriam, Eve Daddies at Work - Merriam, Eve Mommies at Work - Rockwell, Anne When We Grow Up

Police Officer
Barrett, Norman S. Picture World of Police Vehicles - Broekel, Ray Police - Greene, Carla I Want to Be a Policeman - Hannum, Dotti A Visit to the Police Station - Johnson, Jean Police Officers: A to Z - Matthias, Catherine I Can Be a Police Officer - McCloskey Robert Make Way for Ducklings - Nay, Patrick State Patrol - Pellowski, Michael J. What's It Like to Be a Police Officer? - Rathmann, Peggy Officer Buckle and Gloria - Reys, Margaret and H. A. Curious George Visits a Police Station - Robinson, Barry and Dain, Martin J. On the Beat, Policemen at Work

Postal Worker
Ahlbert, Janet and Allan The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters - Gibbons, Gail The Post Office Book Henri, Adrian and Henwood, Simon The Postman's Palace - Keats, Ezra Jack A Letter to Amy - Marshak, Samuel Hail to Mail

Teacher
Allard, Harry Miss Nelson is Back - Beckman, Beatrice I Can Be a Teacher - Brown, Marc Arthur's Teacher Trouble - Chardiet, Bernice and Maccarone, Grace The Best Teacher in the World - Cohen, Miriam The New Teacher Howe, James The Teacher Went Bananas - Marshall, James Miss Nelson is Missing! - Parish, Peggy Teach Us, Amelia Bedelia
Submitted by: dathompson12@email-removed

Back to our Social Studies Lesson Plans